He is a runner-up no more.
Dustin Johnson shot a 69 in his final round to capture a victory at the U.S. Open at the Oakmont Country Club for his first career major victory. Johnson finished at 4 under par, three strokes ahead of the rest of the field.
Johnson won the tournament a year after finishing as the runner-up. With his win on Sunday, Johnson became the fifth player to win a U.S. Open the year after finishing second.
The others are Bobby Jones (1922-23, 1925-26 and 1929-30), Jack Nicklaus (1971-72), Payne Stewart (1998-99) and Tiger Woods (2007-08).
Johnson became the fourth American player to earn his first win in a major at the U.S. Open since 2000, joining Jim Furyk (2003), Lucas Glover (2009) and Webb Simpson (2012).
The comeback trail
Johnson's victory marked the fifth time in the past six instances that the U.S. Open has been at Oakmont that the winner trailed after 54 holes.
Johnson finished his 11th straight round at the U.S. Open within the top 5 on the leaderboard, and he became the second straight U.S. Open champion at Oakmont to overcome exactly a four-shot deficit entering the final round.
Of the past five U.S. Open champions at Oakmont, he was the third to overcome a deficit of at least four strokes (Angel Cabrera in 2007 and Johnny Miller 6 shots in 1973).
Lowry's collapse
Shane Lowry, who entered the final round with a 4-stroke lead at seven strokes under par following a 65 in the third round, shot a 76 (6 over par) and finished tied for second at 1 under par.
The Elias Sports Bureau finds that Lowry is the ninth player to take that large a lead into the final round of a U.S. Open, and he is the third who didn’t win. Mike Brady led by five strokes entering the final round and lost to Walter Hagen in a playoff in 1919, and Stewart led by four in 1998 but lost to Lee Janzen by one.
